The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Miullen. 1‑0 against Valletta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Gilbert Farrugia on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryder Matos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mailson Lima was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
0‑1 to Balzan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Gilbert Farrugia to a room that had heard them before.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Hibernians told Silas Alfred something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartłomiej Luśniewski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kevin Halabaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Everybody at Hibernians saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kevin Halabaku is on it.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1 for Charleston, marked 7.74, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Marsaxlokk were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
108% of the income goes out in wages at Hibernians
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hibernians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
18 seasons and 298 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Julius Salo has just signed for Hibernians, and for once the answer mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kevin Halabaku and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Derrick Ababio is living that version at Hibernians, and it tends to show in the first month.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Gilbert Farrugia left the room before anybody could ask which.
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartłomiej Luśniewski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Kevin Halabaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It needed Ryder Matos to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Sliema Wanderers, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Miullen reports back to Hibernians with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Ryder Matos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Hibernians now know that too.
The clock did what Tarxien Rainbows would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Matteo Cardinali's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Melita waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Hibernians close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 10 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Tarxien Rainbows is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Herick has agreed terms with Balzan for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hibernians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Mouad El Fanis has come up in conversations Hibernians were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Kevin Halabaku and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Hibernians asked and Birkirkara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Melita waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Tarxien Rainbows, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Everything agreed with Birkirkara, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Hibernians know now that the thought has arrived.
A loan enquiry to Hamrun Spartans: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Hibernians offered $22.0K; Tarxien Rainbows said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
The phone has started ringing about Bartłomiej Luśniewski again, and this time the name on the line is Marsa. Hibernians are listening politely and promising nothing.
113 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Marsa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Melita waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Mouad El Fanis again, and this time the name on the line is Gzira United. Hibernians are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ryder Matos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
127 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Valletta for Miullen was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Swieqi United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Tarxien Rainbows, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Valletta waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hibernians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Gzira United for Mouad El Fanis was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mouad El Fanis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Mailson Lima damages knee ligaments — 141 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 141 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sirens waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mouad El Fanis and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Add another name to the list: Swieqi United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Herick. The answer from Hibernians has not changed — yet.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The phone has started ringing about Mouad El Fanis again, and this time the name on the line is Gzira United. Hibernians are listening politely and promising nothing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kevin Halabaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ryder Matos signs something — a contract at Hibernians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Tarxien Rainbows keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Jun 2029
A last season at home is what Mailson Lima is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ryder Matos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Add another name to the list: Tarxien Rainbows have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thierry. The answer from Hibernians has not changed — yet.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kevin Halabaku is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kevin Halabaku trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 3, 41 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Sanele Mhlangu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout21 May 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Sanele Mhlangu's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Benjamin Collins has written the date down.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jack Howard and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Hibernians will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
27 games, 5 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Hibernians now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Mailson Lima has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fraga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
27 appearances and 5 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kevin Halabaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Hibernians is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matteo Cardinali is on it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Benjamin Collins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ryder Matos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kevin Halabaku trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Miullen has written the date down.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Jack Howard was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matteo Cardinali is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartłomiej Luśniewski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ali Diakité and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Charleston is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Silas Alfred’s exile
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Minute 92, against Birkirkara, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Matthieu Kumbi Mabanza and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Matteo Cardinali has come out of that comparison in the side, and Hibernians have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mailson Lima was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Hibernians were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Hibernians are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal that would have taken Miullen to Valletta has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Hibernians with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sirens waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Add another name to the list: Gzira United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mouad El Fanis. The answer from Hibernians has not changed — yet.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Hibernians until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leandro Lacunza and Hibernians agree another 3 years.
A conversation is coming this week. Hibernians will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Pieta Hotspurs waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bjorn Kristensen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kevin Halabaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Hibernians pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Marsaxlokk keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Mason Bennett obliged against Marsaxlokk. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Hibernians.
The offer from Gzira United for Mouad El Fanis was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebuka Nneji will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Valletta had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Gzira United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mouad El Fanis. The answer from Hibernians has not changed — yet.
Hibernians asked and Hamrun Spartans said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
35 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kevin Halabaku provided it, and the 8.15 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bjorn Kristensen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Hibernians had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Mailson Lima and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 6 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Sliema Wanderers will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hibernians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebuka Nneji will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Hibernians will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
In brief
SquadWords at Hibernians training over how hard people work
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Miullen. 2‑1 against Mosta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Hibernians now know that too.
Bjorn Kristensen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Marked 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
In brief
Player ratingsThe game went through Ryder Matos — 6.88
The words a physio says slowly. 55 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bjorn Kristensen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.13 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Halabaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
62 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.21 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Kevin Halabaku and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The words a physio says slowly. 69 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutKevin Halabaku asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 76 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Ryder Matos scored in the 85th minute, Floriana had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Hibernians took the lot.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.09 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hibernians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
83 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kevin Halabaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Diakité was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Matteo Cardinali knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Hibernians will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Kevin Halabaku at his very best
97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hibernians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.02 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bjorn Kristensen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hibernians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mailson Lima signs something — a contract at Hibernians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kevin Halabaku has written the date down.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Hibernians will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Gilbert Farrugia on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Successful dribbles: 36. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mailson Lima was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
This is not rotation. Herick has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Oudu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mouad El Fanis has come out of that comparison in the side, and Hibernians have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ryder Matos. 1‑0 against Hamrun Spartans, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gilbert Farrugia, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matteo Cardinali is on it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartłomiej Luśniewski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bjorn Kristensen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Hamrun Spartans, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Bjorn Kristensen has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Floriana have kept their man, and Hibernians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Peter Oudu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
The deal that would have taken Miullen to Floriana has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Hibernians with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Hibernians close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
An order from above at Hibernians: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Hamrun Spartans keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Kevin Halabaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chrisnovic N'sa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zabbar St. Patrick will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hibernians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hibernians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have shaken hands with Gzira United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Up for the corner, and Ali Diakité delivers — 7.73
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ali Diakité scored, was marked 7.73, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Zabbar St. Patrick were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matthieu Kumbi Mabanza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gzira United have kept their man, and Hibernians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bjorn Kristensen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Peter Oudu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Floriana have kept their man, and Hibernians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Mailson Lima was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Oudu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Floriana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartłomiej Luśniewski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Hamrun Spartans, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The name of Silas Alfred has come up in conversations Hibernians were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Mailson Lima and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chrisnovic N'sa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hibernians have done the hard part with Floriana, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$24.0K was the most the club would pay and Marsaxlokk were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Bjorn Kristensen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Hibernians will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Halabaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A loan enquiry to Hamrun Spartans: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
The dugoutCharleston has become a man the manager trusts
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miullen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Floriana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
$24.0K on the table at Marsaxlokk. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Silas Alfred trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Sirens moved on, Silas Alfred reports back to Hibernians, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The offer from Fgura United for Jurgen Degabriele was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Hibernians offered $1.1M; Floriana said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
$120.0K on the table at Gzira United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Hibernians asked and Gzira United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Sergio Sardinha has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Hibernians have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Swieqi United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer went to Floriana this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$7.0K on the table at Valletta. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
This is not rotation. Herick has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Oudu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matteo Cardinali is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ebuka Nneji
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Marsaxlokk keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Peter Oudu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Miullen's mistake
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with Floriana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartłomiej Luśniewski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Hibernians have gone to Gzira United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$28.0K was the most the club would pay and Mosta were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
The dugoutMouad El Fanis has become a man the manager trusts
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sirens waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Mailson Lima was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gzira United have kept their man, and Hibernians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Thierry again, and this time the name on the line is St. Andrews. Hibernians are listening politely and promising nothing.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Joseph Mbong is on it.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Sirens had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer went to Gzira United this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chrisnovic N'sa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Hibernians has been clear about where Ali Diakité stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everybody at Hibernians saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Bjorn Kristensen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chrisnovic N'sa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Diakité was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mouad El Fanis is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chrisnovic N'sa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mailson Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
Peter Oudu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Silas Alfred will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
29 appearances and 1 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Peter Oudu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Hibernians has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chrisnovic N'sa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mouad El Fanis is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Siyabonga Ngcobo has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebuka Nneji will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Hibernians now know that too.
Peter Oudu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matteo Cardinali is on it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Hibernians know now that the thought has arrived.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
Bjorn Kristensen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Bjorn Kristensen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miullen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mouad El Fanis and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jesús Yépez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hibernians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mailson Lima and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
This is not rotation. Herick has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Diakité is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matteo Cardinali is on it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jurgen Degabriele will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Hibernians know it.
Mailson Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Peter Oudu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hibernians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cleiton Robozão and Hibernians agree another 3 years.
Bjorn Kristensen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Oudu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Kurt Shaw
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Peter Oudu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Hibernians has been clear about where Dexter Xuereb stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hibernians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Hibernians will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebuka Nneji will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Peter Oudu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bjorn Kristensen has his answer from Hibernians; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Hibernians will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Hibernians now know that too.
Bjorn Kristensen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hibernians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Floriana is saying, and nobody at Hibernians is enjoying the guessing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hibernians may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Hibernians close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Dexter Xuereb reports back to Hibernians with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Hibernians have gone to Gzira United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hibernians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hibernians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Floriana have accepted the money. What Hibernians do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mgarr United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Mailson Lima was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hibernians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Hibernians have gone to Gzira United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Mailson Lima and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
This is not rotation. Herick has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Oudu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hibernians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.58 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at St. Andrews, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Floriana have kept their man, and Hibernians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Vittoriosa Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Hibernians had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Floriana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Silas Alfred will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hibernians have done the hard part with Tarxien Rainbows, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The name of Ebuka Nneji has come up in conversations Hibernians were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The name of Jurgen Degabriele has come up in conversations Hibernians were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Hibernians asked and St. Andrews said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hibernians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hibernians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nadson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Gilbert Farrugia to a room that had heard them before.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mouad El Fanis’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hibernians needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hibernians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Mailson Lima was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hibernians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dexter Xuereb will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.